Say You Love Me
by Saturday's Sun
Summary: Introducing... James Potter &... Sarah Bones! Huh? No Lily Evans? Nope... not yet, anyway... J & S have been famous together 4 years; then an accident occurs, & they break up. J finally realizes that L has always been é 1 4 him. R&R!
1. Sarah Beatrice Rosalynde Anne Therese

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Disclaimer

I do not own any of the characters mentioned below, except for Sarah Beatrice Rosalynde Anne Therese Bones. (boy, do I love her name! you'll know why, in the later chapters!) for now, sit back and enjoy the very first chapter of… "Say You Love Me"… by Love Impact Melodic! 

"And here they are! The famous couple of the year!" Sirius Black yelled out at the top of his lungs. Then at an afterthought, he added, "For six years actually." Then Remus Lupin laughed at the attention they were getting. 

It was a new start of a new year. It was their seventh year. The four Marauders, James Harold Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew were walking down a carriage of the Hogwarts Express train. James held hands with Sarah Bones. Sarah Beatrice Rosalynde Anne Therese Bones, to be specific. An exquisite beauty she was, with winter gray eyes that were exotically slanted in a catlike manner and with silver specks, a finely chiseled nose with an equally straight bridge, full and pouting lips that bloomed like a flower in spring and a body to die for. 

She laughed at the look of awes and admiration that passed them by as she walked, hand-in-hand, with her delightfully handsome boyfriend, James Harold Potter. She looked up at James's face, which was lit with laughter, and smiled back, showing a straight row of perfectly white teeth. She flipped her deep, rich mahogany hair behind her right shoulder and said, "My, my, this _would_ be a year, wouldn't it?"

James smiled down at his slightly shorter girlfriend. "Yeah, dear, it'll sure be."

Sirius rolled his eyes. "Oh puh-leese. I'm puking." And with that, he pretended to gag.

Lillian Evans walked behind the three of them, smiling at all the commotion. She also smiled at Remus Lupin, who was standing beside her. She looked in front and saw James laughing his head off at some joke that Sirius must have cracked. The sound of it sent a silent chill down her back. She loved the sound. And loved the way he smiled at her sometimes, whenever she made such a bad joke that no one except him, Remus and Sirius, would smile at. She looked at Remus, who was poking her side ribs gently. He seemed to have caught her staring intently at James and blushed. Even though only Remus knew that Lily had had a crush that ended almost all the years and he never told anyone, Lily sometimes couldn't take the embarrassment of James's closest friend knowing her feelings for James himself.

Remus was about to open his mouth to tease her about the way she was practically drooling over James when he and Lily both heard a cold remark that made Remus want to sneer over the hostility of it. 

"Lily," came a drawling voice. "I'm tired, and I think my make-up's running. Get me my new mascara. And chase those little brutes out of the next carriage. I want to get my beauty sleep before we reach Hogwarts." That was it. No 'thank you', nor any 'please'. It sounded more like a command from a superior sheriff to a dumb cop that had some minor post, rather than a plea from one close friend to another. Remus couldn't stand it, and neither could Sirius. But Sirius was heavy on stuff like reputation, so he didn't say anything to stop Miss Bones from commanding Lily in that superior voice. Peter didn't care much about anything, so he never did probe into their complicated relationships. James sometimes pitied Lily, but never said anything much either. So the scenario almost always went like this:

"Stop commanding Lily like she's some dog," Remus looked at Sarah with his eyes half open. Unlike many people, he knew Sarah Beatrice Rosalynde Anne Therese Bones for who she really is, without even looking at her through fully opened eyes. Her despicable and low character was open enough for him to see.

Sarah looked at him coldly. She never liked Remus much, but put up with him anyway, since he was James's friend and all. But she never, ever initiated anything, much less a conversation with him. She hated the way he sometimes stood up to her, as if she didn't mean anything. And of course she did, everyone knew that she did, too. She was nothing to the world, but she was everything to Hogwarts. And the world was nothing without her, too. That's what she thought of herself most of the time, if not all. She thinks the world of herself, and believes deeply that she deserves thinking that way, and she hates it when people like Remus Lupin stands up and contradicts her and her beliefs. 

"What is it now, Lupin? Angry with me because of your _girlfriend_?" she said, emphasizing the word 'girlfriend'. She knew that Remus liked Lily and that he wanted her for himself. But the pathetic girl never knew what she had and never appreciated it. Sarah thought that Lily was the plainest looking girl she had ever seen, and that if some guy appreciates her, she should just grab the chance and the guy as well. Sarah actually knew for a fact that not only Remus was after her, and quite a few guys, too. She thought that they must be blind, for looking at someone like Lily instead of her. With Lily's yucky green eyes and weird red hair, Sarah had thought that she would never go far, based on her looks. Obviously some people didn't think so, though. 

Other people whom Lily had quietly rejected, thinking that Sarah didn't know of it, Sarah could understand. After all, what were these guys? Lily, plain-looking as she was, still had some value attached to her; she was, after all, Sarah's somewhat 'maid', if not 'servant'. (A/N: Bitch, huh?) But… Remus? Lily should just grab him the first chance she got. Sarah thought that Lily was simply playing hard to get, which was a foolish thing to do.

Remus was about to open his mouth to retort when James stopped the both of them from getting into another verbal fight as usual. He somewhat 'saved' the situation, like he almost always did. Except that he didn't know what happened to Lily when he wasn't there with his precious girlfriend.

"All right, all right. Sarah, dear, I'll get the next carriage free, all right? Lily, just go get her stuff for her. Thanks." Lily nodded fervently and ran to get Sarah's trunk for her. She knew that if she only got Sarah's mascara, she would then request another thing from her trunk. Just to play safe, she had better take the whole trunk with her. Even if it was so damn heavy. 

She turned to leave and walking briskly for a few more steps, she saw that Remus was beside her, practically _strolling_. She stopped in her tracks and frowned. "How come you take such easy strides?" she gave Remus a good frown which made Remus laugh.

"Mayhap because my legs are long?" Remus teased.

Lily smiled. "Mayhap so." Then the both of them started walking in silence, before Remus asked whatever that came into his mind.

"Lily?"

"Hmm?"

"Why do you do this to yourself?" By then, they had already entered an empty carriage, as it was close to the carriage which carried all the trunks, and it had a rather musty smell about it. 

Lily stopped in her tracks, seeing that Remus had done so. 

"Do what?" she said, puzzled.

"Following that stupid bitch's orders and letting her command you like that?" Remus spat out, with traces of venom in his tone. (A/N: he really hates her, huh? Can't really blame him, though.)

"Remus!" Lily gently admonished. "Don't say that."

"Why not?" he countered. "If she acts like one, I sure as hell would call her one."

"She has her reasons, you know," Lily muttered under her breath.

"Oh, yeah? What? The same old ones that she made up?"

"She didn't make them up!" Lily retorted, trying to defend her friend.

"Really?" Remus half-shouted. Then he raked shaking fingers through his sandy hair, indicating his thorough frustration. "Lily-" he sighed. "- I checked up her background-" Remus didn't even stop when he heard Lily gasp in shock. "- she has _nothing_ wrong with her family. _Absolutely nothing._ And I swear by the full moon that the information is reliable. All she has in her family, is a stupid dog that looks demented, and two parents that spoil her at every chance they've got. No abusing parents, no possessive sister or brother so as to speak of. She's lying, Lily. Trust me," he added emphatically. 

Lily sighed, trying hard to digest all that Remus had just told her. She _did_ have her suspicions every time Sarah came from the holidays. There weren't any bruises that she spoke of, but there were plenty of presents, which she claimed were from her Beauxbatons friends and Durmstrang admirers. But Lily had once chanced upon a card that said it was from her parents and the content was rather heart-warming. Lily had wanted to confront her, but she stopped thinking as soon as she saw James walking along side with Sarah. James would hate her for exposing Sarah's lie…

She sighed once again when she realized that Remus was waiting for a response from her. "I know she's lying… but… if I don't listen to her and leave her, I'll have no more friends…" she whispered, feeling a huge lump in her throat.

"Bullshit." Remus spat out. Then with a gentle tone, he added, "I'll still be with you, Lily, I'll always be."

Lily smiled, with visible tears glistening in her eyes. "Thank you, Remus… but…" her voice trailed off.

"But what? It's about James again, isn't it?" Remus said, with a tinge of bitterness in his voice. "Why don't you just bloody well tell him how you really feel?"

Something in Lily snapped. 

"Oh! You think I haven't tried?! But NEVER will I forget the humiliation I got, all right?! NEVER!" Then she ran blindly to the trunk room, trying desperately to wipe away her tears and not fall at the same time.

Remus ran his fingers through his hair once again and shut his sapphire colored eyes. He seriously didn't care about his hair or how it looked anymore. He was far too mad at Lily and more at himself at that moment. How could he have been so insensitive? Oh, he remembered, all right. Remembered how seriously James had taken the issue of Lily liking him. Not at all.

****

Flashback   
  
"Ah- James?" Lily stuttered as she stood, shaking, in front of James. They were finally alone, as Sarah had gone down to the bathroom to put on more make-up. (A/N: Honestly, I don't know how I created such a character like Sarah Beatrice Rosalynde Anne Therese, who positively reminds me of a nicely decorated cake which is made up of rotten eggs.)

"Yes?" James smiled, then frowned as he saw how Lily was shaking. Her shoulders seemed like pillars of support that were on the brink of collapsing. So he placed his hands on her shoulders, trying to calm it down. He certainly didn't know that he was the exact reason why she was shivering so. Her shoulders shook more, now, with James's touch. It sent her quivering more and the funny thing was, their contact wasn't only startling her. 

James quickly took his hands away, as if he had just received an unpleasant electrical shock. 

"I-ah- likeyoualot." 

James smiled. 

"What? I didn't hear you for the first time. Sorry." Then he smiled up at Sirius, Peter, Remus and Sarah, who were all standing behind Lily. But Lily didn't know it, of course. She was much too absorbed in her task and trying her best to stop shaking and get the confession thing over and done with.

"I. Like. You." Not bad, she thought, no shivering, nor quavering. Least did she expect a bewildered frown from James and a burst of laughter from Sirius and Peter. 

She swerved to face Sirius and Peter, who were both shaking. From laughter. Remus had his eyebrow raised in disbelief and Sarah had glared at her with eyes that had glowed with anger now. 

She turned and was about to run when James called out, "That was a joke, right?" 

Sirius laughed harder. "Lame, man, Evans. Come up with something better than that the next time, all right?" 

Lily could only nod and force herself to laugh at the 'joke' she had just cracked. She hoped at the time that she had managed a somewhat sheepish grin. 

"Yeah, it was a joke." 

At this, James laughed loudly. "You scared me there, for a moment, Lily!" 

Lily smiled slowly, while she felt her heart breaking. She had then muttered something about having unfinished homework to do and leaving the room, which was now filling up with the new first graders, who looked up in awe at the four Marauders and the beautiful Sarah, who pasted a smile on her face. She knew that that was no joke that Lily had cracked. One look at the girl's hurt and flustered face would have anyone knowing that it was indeed true that she did like James, and that it was no joke she cracked earlier. She would pay dearly, Sarah thought. 

And she did, as Sarah followed her up to their common room, which was empty. She had grabbed Lily by the red ponytail and practically dragged her upstairs to their room, which was also empty, unfortunately. Everyone seemed to be at their classes. 

And Lily sat there, without any shedding of any tears, as Sarah gave her a good scolding and an equally good lashing. (A/N: No lashing verbally, mind you. Lashing physically.)

Then Sarah had left the room, smirking, sure that that stupid bitch would never try pulling off something like that anymore. Although she was also sure never to let James out of her sight again. Before she left, though, she remarked coldly, "Tell anyone about this, and see who they'll believe." 

Lily didn't have to be smart to know the answer. She now cried, into her pillow, making it wet with her salty tears. Sarah was smart, to have whipped her at her lower back only. Only two whips with a metal ruler. It wouldn't have hurt so much, actually, if Lily wasn't still recovering from the previous lashing she got on the same spot for ignoring Sarah's orders accidentally. She had once dozed off, as she was too tired from staying up too late reading a book. And had been mistaken as ignoring Sarah on purpose. For that, she had gotten her punishment. 

****

End Flashback

Remus knew all of this, of course. He had accidentally found out. Once, he had casually draped an arm across Lily's shoulder while sitting in the train. And Lily had accidentally gasped in pain, leaving Remus to raise his eyebrow in suspicion. And he had pulled the collar of Lily's shirt forcefully, causing Lily to gasp out in pain again. To Lily's embarrassment, her bra strap was blatant for everyone to see, although Remus and her were the only one in the carriage then. She gasped out again, in embarrassment this time. Remus saw nothing, though, except for the whip marks and bruises on the shoulder and neck. No wonder Lily had to wear a high necked sweater almost all the time. To hide the bruises. 

"Who did this to you?!" he cried out in half-anguish and half-outrage.

"I banged myself." Lily was so used to this kind of questions that she had given an automatic answer to Remus too fast. Too suspiciously quick.

Both eyebrows of Remus's raised themselves. 

"Tell me, Lily." 

So Lily had finally admitted to him, after much persuasion that he wouldn't tell and never do anything to the culprit. 

Remus was so angry that Lily was almost afraid to talk to him. However, to Lily's surprise, Remus always replied gently to Lily, even in the one time when Lily had purposely asked a question twice, just to test his impatience. He had never yelled at Lily before, though, so Lily knew that he wouldn't start soon anyway.

Well, then he had lied. 'cause afterwards, he had confronted James. 

A/N: Of course, the next chapter, when he confronted James in another flashback, Sarah wasn't there. In the next chapter… there would be more stuff like Transfiguration… *hint hint* the break-up will follow up. So, hate fanatics of Sarah Beatrice Rosalynde Anne Therese Bones, please tune in for more details! (I just love her name though, her middle name. In later chapters, you guys will definitely know why it suits her SO much. if u know… don't write it in your reviews! Leave those who don't know a pleasant surprise!) And… come on, please, read and review! Thanks ~~~ 


	2. Silent Confession

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Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters mentioned below except for Sarah Beatrice Rosalynde Anne Therese Bones, which I am quite sad to say I created her. Yet I am quite happy, for I have created her perfectly, as the person everyone hates. =) *all smiles*

~*~*~*~

Silent Confession

"JAMES, YOU BASTARD! GET IN HERE!" 

Everyone in the Gryffindor common room looked up in surprise, wondering whoever the shouting came from, and whoever it was that had such audacity to call out the name of James Potter. When they saw it was only Remus Lupin, their shock subsided slowly, only later, to be replaced by another type of surprise. Why was Remus shouting for James, as if James were his mortal enemy? No one had the answers. 

James, Sirius and Peter sauntered into the common room, as if nothing had happened.

"Who is it shouting like-" Sirius asked, with a note of displeasure in his voice, which quickly turned to surprise when he saw that it was only Remus. 

"Oh. It's you?" Sirius cocked his cute head to one side, making him look cuter, and the girls in the common room would have screamed out in delight when he turned and smiled at them. If not for the tenseness in the air at that particular moment. 

Remus rolled his eyes, despite the anger he was feeling right now. He felt like something molten was boiling inside him, as if it were molten lava deep inside a volcano. And one that was about to erupt any time now.

"JAMES YOU IDIOT-" Remus shouted across the room, and James squinted his eyes and frowned in confusion, as if he didn't have a clue about what Remus was shouting about. He didn't. 

The rest of the people in the same room looked on, as if expecting some kind of show coming from the famous four Marauders themselves.

Then, as though Remus had just noticed the crowd, he yelled out at the top of his lungs. "WHAT ARE ALL OF YOU LOOKING AT? GET OUT! GET OUT!" 

In minutes, the room was empty, without anyone except one angry Remus and the other three, who were very confused by Remus and his actions. After all, Remus never shouted in front or without a crowd before. Unless it was something really important. He didn't even shout when Sirius had put slugs everywhere in his room back home. So what was so important?

"What is this about, Remus?" James inquired in a calm voice, riling up Remus's temper even more. 

"WHAT? WHAT DO YOU MEAN WHAT? DON'T TELL ME YOU-" before he could continue, Sirius piped in with another comment of his. 

"Yeah, Remus, why the hell are you so angry?" 

Instead of answering Sirius's question, Remus said through his gritted teeth, "This doesn't concern you, Sirius."

"Yeah, I know, but-"

"So shut up." Remus stopped Sirius before he could proceed further with his ridiculous comments and remarks.

Sirius looked as if he was about to argue with Remus, but then with another deadly glare coming from Remus himself, Sirius snapped his mouth shut, swallowing whatever remark he was about to make.

"James-" Remus continued in a much more calmer voice, now that Sirius had disrupted his concentration a bit, he wasn't as angry as before. "- do you have any idea what your beloved girlfriend has done?"

James looked more confused, if that was even possible. 

"Huh? Sarah?" he asked, puzzled. With a curt nod from Remus, he shook his head, indicating that he didn't have any clue about what Remus was talking about, whatever it was about Sarah.

"She-" Remus started in a sort of trembling voice. "- beat the shit out of Lily. Do you even know that?" Remus ended.

"BIT?!?!?" Sirius exclaimed in a loud voice, as if forgetting his deal of keeping silent until the discussion was over. 

Remus's nostrils flared. "WILL YOU STOP INTERRUPTING ME, YOU ASSHOLE! SHUT UP FOR ONCE, WILL YOU?!?!?" Remus's shouting made the pictures leaning against the walls shake with tremor, as if an earthquake had just hit them, making the figures in the pictures hold on to their frames for dear life. They frowned at Remus for all the noise, but he took no notice.

Sirius frowned and shrugged, as if to show indifference. Inwardly, though, Sirius was sort of worried. He didn't care if Remus had shouted at him. In fact, this was many of the really rare times which Remus had done so. He was a bit worried for both Remus and James. Actually, more for James. Because the last time Remus had shouted like that, he had nearly beaten a guy to death. Sirius sure hoped it wouldn't be the same case as before.

"What are you talking about?" James's own temper flared. How _dare_ Remus accuse Sarah of such a horrible act? She's too innocent to even hurt a fly, he thought silently and he had shouted that thought aloud to Remus, who really looked as if he was about to kill someone.

"TOO INNOCENT? HAH!" Remus exclaimed, his arms across his chest. "So you'd rather believe her than me, huh?" 

"Wha-" James shook his head. "Don't take this the wrong way. What I meant was just that Sarah wouldn't hurt anyone. If she did, she must have some pretty good reasons." 

Just as Remus was about to reply to that, the doors opened and Lily stood there in the doorway, shoulders suddenly slumped, as if she knew what was going on. However, she wasn't really alone. She was with Miss Perfect. 

Lily glared at Remus, who looked away guiltily. He didn't want to deal with that kind of emotion, now that he was already dealing with something else so foreign: anger and hurt for someone else. Someone he obviously cared about. 

"Here's your proof," Remus said instead, as he walked over and pulled a reluctant Lily to James. And after a minute's hesitation, he pulled Sarah over, too. Without any gentleness though. Sarah rubbed her wrist as she thought about the bruise Remus would probably leave, after using so much force on her. But she didn't really mind. She liked Remus and his strength even more now, but she didn't show that admiration openly. She scowled at Remus and tossed a fake smile towards James, who was smiling at her now. She smirked in her mind; she knew she looked good in that new dress of hers. It had a rather plunging neckline. It was just too bad that Remus couldn't take more notice of her, rather than that plain little Mudblood Evans. Even Sirius seemed surprised at her attire, and he quickly turned around to walk over to the couches, so that Sarah wouldn't see his scowl and roll of eyes. Sarah thought otherwise, though. She thought Sirius was hiding his blush. His blush, indeed!

Lily trembled under Remus's arm, who was around her shoulder lightly, as he knew of her hurt under that thin shirt of hers. He was about to pull the collars away slightly when Lily shook her head vehemently. Her face flushed and Remus knew what she was thinking about. It would be too embarrassing. So he lifted her arm tenderly and pulled back her sleeves. 

"See?" Remus showed James a couple of already fading bruises. Lily tried to pull her arm back, but Remus seemed to tighten his hold on her with every withdrawal of hers, so she just stayed put.

Sarah seemed to know what was going on as she suddenly, literally fell into James's arms.

"Oh, James! He's accusing me of something I would never do! Never!" she shouted dramatically, with one of her hands flying to her forehead. As if she were Scarlet O' Hara and James was Rhett Butler, which was in other words, ridiculous.

James patted her dark hair softly as he muttered, "I know. Hush." 

Before anyone could react to her self-conscious admit, Sirius, for once, pulled out of the stupor faster than anyone else. 

"How do you know Remus was talking about you?" his eyebrows narrowed suspiciously. And for a moment, James felt confused and suspicious of his own girlfriend. Sarah must have sensed the sudden tenseness in James and she broke out in, sending torrents of tears down her cheeks.

"Not you, too, Sirius!" she moaned loudly, loud enough for everyone to hear. By this time, Lily had already managed to get her hand free from Remus's loosening grasp. She ran towards the girls' dormitory.

Remus wanted so much to chase after her, but he needed to stay to see how the situation would turn out.

James felt constraint in his eyebrows as he knitted them together. He didn't want to call Remus a liar, but he sure didn't want to suspect his own girlfriend, too. He was in a dilemma, no doubt. He sighed inaudibly, as he looked over at Remus's somewhat pleading blue eyes, and Sarah's watery eyes. Her mascara was running, and she thought that it would make her look more vulnerable. 

Her plan had worked. James saw the 'vulnerability' in her and walked her back to the girls' dormitory without a single word to Remus, nor even Sirius. Peter, as usual, was sleeping through the whole commotion. 

Sirius looked as Remus walked out of the Gryffindor common room quietly, shoulders slumped, as if admitting defeat. 

~*~*~*~

* to be continued…*

A/N: So… what do you think? Good? Bad? Review and give me your opinions? Let's see… how about… 7 more reviews for this one? All right, I'll except 5, I guess. But I promise, I'll post faster with the promised 7! =) *all smiles* (again)


	3. For That Moment

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters mentioned below except for Sarah Bones. 

~* **For That Moment** *~

"Ready for transfiguration?" Lily muttered nervously, trying to strike a conversation with James, who was right now staring intently at her flushed face.

She had met James down the corridor on the way to Transfiguration Class, and for some miraculous reason, Sarah wasn't around James. That miraculous reason, however, wasn't what Lily had wanted to hear. 

"Oh, she went to the bathroom." Was James's reply, and Lily's reply to that was a simple 'oh'. 

So instead of walking down, she decided to start getting over her shyness and start talking to James. Even though after a few minutes, she found that it wasn't a very good idea. She couldn't very well look into his eyes while talking without fainting dead away at the blueness and depth of his eyes. 

Meanwhile, James himself couldn't help but notice the girl standing in front of him a bit more and longer than usual. Her head was bent down and although all he could see was stunning red hair, he was surprised that he was curious about the color of her eyes. Maybe he just wanted to know what kind of eye color would suit her fiery hair more. Maybe he wanted to know whether she was as fiery as her hair was. Maybe he should get to know her better.

Now where did that thought come from, James thought in puzzlement. 

"Lily." 

Lily looked up, and James couldn't speak, for the clearness of her gorgeous green eyes was robbing him for his words. He suddenly remembered how his mother had said that rubies and sapphires were the most beautiful and stunning gemstones of all. He never doubted what his mother said. Until now. Until he looked into Lily's emerald eyes and told himself how he couldn't deny or lie to himself that she wasn't a beautiful girl.

For that moment, neither of them spoke. They just stood, staring into each other's eyes, both amazed at what they saw. 

For that moment, no one needed the gift of sound to accentuate the mutual understanding between the two people.

Just then, Sarah stalked over to them and raised her perfect plucked eyebrow so high up, it nearly disappeared into her hairline.

"What's going on around here? Something I don't know but should know?"

Lily's face flushed further. She knew she was going to have it later. Yet she couldn't help wondering that the pain and agony that she know she would be feeling afterwards was to pay for the few rare moments where she had stared into eyes the color of the lake. And he had stared right back. At first, she had thought that she was imagining things, but when she saw her own reflection in his eyes and felt her knees start buckling, she knew that she couldn't kid herself.

"Isn't anyone going to say anything?" Sarah practically shouted into Lily's face.

"Nothing's going on, Sar," James replied, and tried to divert her attention away from Lily, who was trembling quite badly that James was feeling quite sorry for her. At the same time, though, James was wondering what it was that could make Lily so upset and afraid of the mere sight or voice of Sarah. Then, his mind drifted off to the other night, where he and Remus nearly got into a fight over…

"James, are we going to transfiguration class or not?" Sarah's slightly impatient voice broke through his thoughts. James felt himself frown slightly with irritation when he saw how Sarah smiled up to him after waving Lily away without a 'goodbye'. 

__

What's wrong with me today? James couldn't help but think, as he allowed Sarah to drag his reluctant body to class.

~* to be continued *~

Author's Note: So… how was it? Please review!! Anyway… if it isn't very good, I promise u that the next chapter would be a sudden and rather exciting twist to the story. I promise. So... stay tuned! (and do remember to review) thank you!


	4. Breaking Up

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~* Breaking Up *~

"All right, class. Listen up. Today's spell will be rather complicating, as you'll be turning simple plain grass to a jewel or gemstone of your own will. you will have to pay extra attention to this spell. _And_, you will have to change them back to grass. Get it?"

The class nodded and went to collect their samples of grass. They were to work in pairs. And of course, Sarah was with James. Remus walked over to Lily, who smiled at him.

"So… do I have the honors?" 

Lily beamed up at him. "Sure."

The lesson went on quite smoothly. Lily was very good at Transfiguration, so she had already finished her assignment and could have scored perfect marks if it was a test. Remus was smiling outwardly, but cringing with pain inside when he saw how Lily had turned the grass into a stunning sapphire. He knew exactly what it represented. His eyes were blue, too. That was true, but he knew deep inside that it wasn't his eyes that she was thinking of. 

Over at Sarah's side, she frowned in disgust at that yellow topaz she had conjured up. It was quite nice, but she hated that color, because it didn't look good on her.

"James, what are you doing?" she asked, perplexed as she saw how James waved his wand futilely for a couple of times before giving up.

"Trying to turn this stupid thing into-" he stopped in mid-sentence. He suddenly realized that all he was thinking of was to change the grass into shiny emeralds. But he couldn't say that.

"Well?" came the impatient comment.

"Nothing, dear. I'm just trying hard to get this right, as usual." And that was actually the half-truth. He _was_ really bad at Transfiguration.

So he concentrated hard and saw that Sarah was facing him and his 'experiment'. He braved a smile and stared hard at the grass. But he wasn't concentrating. All he could think of was the lushness of those eyes he had stared at. He somehow had this feeling that those eyes not only belonged to an intelligent woman, they also belonged to this sensual woman that he never thought of exploring before. 

His wand hand was shaking. 

Before he knew it, he succeeded in turning the piece of grass into something.

It was something, all right. 

It was a long grass snake.

"Jesus Christ!" he yelled out. 

All four things happened at once, and unfortunately, they all happened to Miss yellow-is-not-my-color.

Her eyes rounded, her face turned pale almost instantly, she gasped sharply. And the fourth thing, well, she fainted dead away.

"Shit," James mumbled under his breath. Sarah hated almost everything, especially insects. And she hated any type of snakes the most, even if they were harmless.

Later that afternoon, he went down to the hospital ward, along with the rest of the Marauders and Lily. By then, he was too distraught to even notice Lily looking concerned.

Madam Pomfrey, the school nurse, agreed to let all of them see her, but only for a few minutes. 

James knelt down beside her and grabbed her hand. "Oh, god, Sar, I'm sorry. So damned sorry. I didn't mean for that to happen."

Sarah glared at James. Seemed to them that she didn't really accept James's apology.

"Let go of me, you imbecile." And with that, she snatched her hand away from James's grasp.

Lily couldn't believe what she was hearing. Sarah, calling James an imbecile? That could never happen. For a moment, she thought that she was dreaming. She thought that she might have pinched herself.

"What are you saying, Sarah? You're obviously too upset-"

"I'm not upset. I'm perfectly clear-headed. And I'm saying now that we're over. We. Are. Over. Goodbye, James." 

"What? Are you breaking up with me?" James himself couldn't believe what he was hearing. He obviously was having an ear problem.

"Yes. I couldn't possibly be someone who wants to kill me at every chance he has." 

"What?" James exclaimed incredulously. "You know I would never harm you, let alone kill you!" 

Sarah rolled her eyes and at that moment, Lily wondered if she really was in that much distress if she could roll her eyes that way.

"Whatever, James. Just get out of my sight. We're so over."

James was about to say something else when the matron came in and shooed them all away. "You're obviously putting my patient in distress. Please, come again some other time," she had said.

James was in too much shock to believe whatever anyone said. Even Sirius, the usual clown of the group, couldn't say anything to cheer James up. 

"James, come on, let's go play Quidditch, all right?" Sirius asked for the umpteenth time, when they were in their dormitory.

"No," James replied for the umpteenth time as well.

Sirius finally got sick of asking; he simply couldn't understand how anyone would be so hung up over anyone else, especially over people like Sarah Bones. So he grabbed hold of his broomstick by the wall and practically dragged Remus and Peter out of their beds to the Quidditch field. 

James was rather grateful for the time alone, even if it would only be for a short while. He needed some time to think. Was Sarah serious when she mentioned their breaking up? He certainly hoped not. After all, they've been together for such a long time; it would be hard to say goodbye.

He took hold of the nearest photo frame on the small dresser near his bed. It contained a picture of Sarah and him standing on the grass pitches of Quidditch. James was smiling broadly as his team had just won the Quidditch Cup; Sarah, on the other hand, was swiping at her legs, trying hard to swipe off imaginary insects off them. (A/N: figures… so typical of her)

James didn't understand; they looked so happy together. (A/N: he must really be in love with her, according to the saying of love being blind…) What went wrong just now? It was just too much for him to take. He needed to go out and take a breather. Alone. Therefore, he took out his Invisibility Cloak from inside his trunk and covered himself with it, before leaving the dormitory.

He walked and walked. First he walked past the Quidditch Pitch, where he saw Sirius and Remus playing tag while Peter was at the bleachers, half-asleep. After walking past both the Quidditch Pitch and the Herbology Gardens, he didn't know where else to go then. After a while of deep pondering, he decided to go over to the lake. The scenery over there might be able to take his mind off some things.

Arriving at the lake, he found out that he wasn't alone. He saw a certain redhead bending over and peering into the water. For a moment, he thought that the girl was about to do something silly like committing suicide, then he realized that her posture looked too relaxed to be in a middle of a suicide. He was about to turn around and walk away when something in the back of his mind stopped him. Intuition told him to take off his cloak and look at who the mysterious girl was. James would have thought himself as stupid under normal circumstances, but now, he just needed something else to lead him. Maybe his heart will do in place for his usually logical mind, he decided.

So he took the cloak off and left it at a tree. He approached the girl slowly and then stood beside her. The girl gasped sharply when she suddenly saw another image beside hers. She was so shocked and surprised that she lost her balance and fell right into the water.

"Shit!' James exclaimed when he found out who the girl actually was and that he had just scared her so much, she had fell into the lake. What kind of an idiot was he? The worst one, he thought to himself. He was about to jump into the lake to save her when he saw her emerge out of the water and smile at him. 

"I'm really sorry, Lily," he said as she slowly swam her way up-shore again. She was still smiling. She stopped swimming when she reached in front of him and saw his outreached hand. She took it, and to both of their surprises, she pulled James right into the water with her. 

"The water was damn cold, Lily! Why the hell did you do that for?" James exclaimed once the both of them were out of the cold water and drying themselves on the shore.

Lily smiled and suddenly James wasn't angry anymore. "Firstly," she said calmly, "to get back at you for scaring me. Secondly… to get rid of your frown." 

James frowned harder when he heard this and Lily matched him frown for frown. Then they both laughed at each other's mirror images. 

"So, why are you out here?" James asked.

"To think," came the reply. "Why are you out here?"

"To think." 

Lily smiled. She looked up at James and found that he was looking right back at her. She still couldn't get rid of the shyness she felt whenever she was close to him, but she found out that she could now speak coherent sentences when they were talking. Suddenly a wet tendril of Lily's red hair fell from behind her ear. She reached out to tuck it back in. 

James was shocked, but he didn't show it. Why was it he felt so strongly that he wanted to tuck that stray tendril of hair behind her ear personally? He didn't understand. Sighing inwardly, he realized that he had a lot of things which he didn't understand.

"Lily, why do you think Sarah broke up with me?" James asked unconsciously. 

Lily cringed inside. "I don't know," she replied truthfully. 

Silence. 

"But you're her best friend, how can you not know? I mean, she confides in you about everything, right? How come you don't know the reason why-" 

That was the last straw. Lily stood up abruptly. 

"How should I know? If you want to know, find it out for yourself!" 

Then Lily walked away, before James could see her tears flowing out of her eyes. How could she be so stupid? For just one moment, she had felt that they had really clicked together and that he might be truly interested in knowing more about her. She could see now how stupid she was to think that. 

James stared at Lily's back as she walked away. What happened? Did he say something wrong? Apparently he did. Something so wrong that sent her running away from him. He sighed, outwardly this time, and leaned back against the sturdy tree trunk. He caught sight of something shiny beside him, on the soft green grass. He picked it up and saw that it was a silver necklace. It was a heart-shaped locket of some sort, James thought, after he had inspected it. He tried opening it, but found out that it needed a tiny key to open it. After a few minutes of trying, he finally gave up. He picked up his cloak and began walking back to his dormitory. He suddenly felt very tired; today was too eventful a day.


End file.
